Final Destination: Keep It In Mind
by TheFDFan180
Summary: Elmer has a horrific premonition of an avalanche but he manages to save himself and ten others, only to discover that they have not escaped Death's clutches. Can Elmer save not only himself but his fellow survivors?  Rated T for strong language and gore.
1. It Begins

Picking up the bottle of hair wax, Elmer von Fersen snapped open the lid and squeezed a decent-sized amount of the pale orange, thick solution. He quickly shut the lid back down with his free hand and set it down on the table. He licked his lips, sighed and rubbed the wax into his hands. Elmer sniffed gently as he heard a creak come from the door in his room at the log cabin.

He turned around to see his girlfriend, Eloise Kahane, and two skiing instructors, whose names at this point were unknown to Elmer, waiting at the door. Smiling as he began styling hair in front of the mirror filed with fingerprints, and beckoned Eloise to come into the room. Catching the hint, she smugly strolled into the room and giggled coyly as she wrapped her hands around his waist. He became jokingly agitated and pushed her off cheekily to continue finished his hair.

"Calm down! You'll be wearing a hat anyway." Eloise turned around to pick up his phone from the coffee table that was stained with cigarette ash and where tepid cups of coffee sat before being spilt. Clicking the large obsidian button in the centre of Elmer's phone, Eloise allowed his phone's screen to flash into life, bringing a pale blue light into the room. After checking the time, she locked the phone and handed it to Elmer, but he was unable to take it as he hands were sticky from the wax. As a result, Eloise chuckled and snuck the phone into the front pocket of his jeans.

"What's the time?" Elmer wiped the remainder of the gummy wax for his hair onto the nearby towel, before casually lobbing it over to the sofa.

"Time to get a watch!" Eloise giggled and leant into Elmer and held a hand on his stomach. He winked at her before grabbing her waist and picking her up. They were soon locked in a kiss that was tender but satisfactory for the pair. Just then, one of the two skiing instructors coughed abruptly, interjected the duo. Elmer pulled away whilst holding Eloise up still. He glanced over to the instructors and chuckled awkwardly.

"Sorry." He dropped Eloise softly onto the floor. He turned and grabbed his hat and placed it on his head, before rearranging it several times. Then, he was pleased with the result. He turned back to the instructors and took Eloise's hand.

"Do you mind hurrying up?" The woman said, approaching Elmer. She spoke in a brash and surprisingly low tone. She came off as intimidating to Elmer, but he remained calm, provided he still held Eloise's hand in his.

"Becca?" The man followed her meekly. He placed a pale hand on her shoulder, prompting her to turn around. "Be nicer please?" He smiled shyly and she turned back around, bitter.

"I seem to have forgotten my manners." She stood up straight and pulled down her uniform. "I am Becca Sharp; I will be one of the three skiing instructors with you today." She spoke in a reluctant but polite tone to the boyfriend-girlfriend team.

"I'm Hayden." He took his hand out from inside his pockets and pulled it out for Elmer to shake. Elmer grasped it and shook it firmly. "Hayden Rockwell." He smiled and nodded, before stepping back. "Another instructor." He hastily added.

"Nice to meet you both." Elmer replied with an affable edge to his voice. He continued. "I apologize if I held the skiing group up in anyway." Eloise smiled at him.

"We're really both excited to be skiing, you know." She clenched onto his arm now, and giddily stared back over to Becca and Hayden.

"We'll leave you to finish getting ready." Hayden nodded and tapped Becca on the arm, signalling her to exit the room with him. With attitude, she did.

After their departure, Eloise rolled her eyes and looked at Elmer. They both knew what the other was thinking and simultaneously guffawed, with a flirtatious vibe.

"She's such a bitch!" Elmer laughed as he turned and picked up his scarf and jacket from the peg near the table he was preparing his look at.

"She really is!" Eloise placed a hand on Elmer's back as they giggled. "You looking forward to this skiing thing then?" Eloise inquired, but Elmer only shrugged.

"I don't know, I guess I am." He coughed nervously as he wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"Are you scared or something?" She jokingly said, turning to sit down. After a short pause, Eloise looked up. "No wait, what?" She chortled joyfully. "You really are, aren't you?"

"No!" Elmer raised his voice a little, but not enough to ruin the humour in the atmosphere. Eloise stared at him with intent as he bit at his thumbnail. He gave in. "Okay, I am." He sat down, apathetically.

"Look, nothing can go wrong, Elmer!" Eloise smiled.

"How do you know?" Elmer clicked his fingers one by one, to highlight his fear.

"There are going to be three skiing instructors looking after about twenty of us." Eloise stood up and strolled over to Elmer and sat on his lap, lightly.

"I'm a little apprehensive about it." Elmer clasped his hands around Eloise's and sniffed.

"At least you're not like that Zane-Nathan." Eloise teased.

"What?" Elmer snickered slightly.

"He's full-on freaking out." Eloise ridiculed the pathetic twenty-two year-old that was Zane-Nathan.

"Really?" Elmer turned noticeably sombre about the situation, thinking why he was.

"He read on-line that avalanches occur twenty to thirty times a year in some places, and that one hasn't happened here for about five months." Eloise rubbed her hand over Elmer's chest while he evidently thought about the poor guy.

* * *

><p>Outside, Zane-Nathan was indeed working himself up for a fright. Attempting to calm him down was thirty-something year-old woman dressed in the grey and green skiing instructor outfit. Zane-Nathan, a timid physiologist, travelled to Elk Skiing Resort 180 in Bern, Switzerland from Berks County, Pennsylvania with his friends.<p>

"Just calm down, okay?" The skiing instructor's efforts were in vain. She placed two hands on his shoulders in an attempt to reinforce some comfort in the wreck.

"Get the fuck off me!" Zane-Nathan ripped her hands off his body. "Who the fuck are you anyway?" His face was turning a shade of red subtly.

"I apologize, sir." The woman said, rubbing her hands together. "I am Matija. One of the skiing instructors." She smiled at him as he looked up, still flustered, although much more serene now.

"Is it true?" He asked, panting a little from his freak-out.

"Is what true?" She replied, cocking her head to one side, almost comically.

"That there hasn't been an avalanche here for five months. Is it true?" Zane-Nathan's face was fading into a more natural hue now.

"Yes that's true." Matija laughed and stood up straighter. "Isn't that a good thing?" She hesitantly rubbed his arm.

"But avalanches happen about twenty times a year." Zane-Nathan looked up and pushed his glasses up. They were now sitting comfortable on the bridge of his nose, stained with tears.

"That depends entirely upon the location, sir." Matija grinned a little at him, slightly sinister. "Now why don't you get some coffee and calm down, yeah?" She gave off a friendly aura, to which Zane-Nathan could only counter with an insignificant nod.

* * *

><p>"I'm sure he'll be okay anyway." Eloise's smile widened as she saw Elmer cheerily beaming at her, letting there be a romantic and jovial moment between the two of them.<p>

"He'll be fine." Elmer put his hand in Eloise's black hair and twirled it around in his fingers. "Your hair is awfully soft today." He winked at her.

"Thanks." Eloise cracked another smile. "Shelly let me borrow some of her shampoo yesterday."

"How is Shelly?" Elmer loosened his grip from Eloise as he took his phone out of his pocket and into his hand.

"She's good, I guess." Eloise answered.

"Is she looking forward to going to the skiing lesson?" Elmer asked.

"She couldn't stop talking about it!" Eloise rolled her eyes. "If she wasn't talking about breaking up with Kane, she'd be talking about skiing!" Eloise suddenly realised she disclosed her friend's secret as she saw Elmer's face snap into shock.

"What?" He asked, leaning his head forward in bitter amazement.

"Shit." Eloise muttered and escaped from Elmer's clutches. "Just forget I said anything."

"No, I can't just forget you said that, what was that?" Elmer grew angry, still gripping his phone.

"Baby, forget it." Eloise tried to turn soft so she could melt away Elmer's worries, yet it failed.

"My best friend is going to be dumped by the woman he was about to propose to?" Elmer seethed, not realising he too had just revealed his friend's secret.

"What?" Eloise leant back in utter awe.

"He was about to propose to her." There was no use in wriggling out of this one, so Elmer just elaborated.

"That's horrible." Eloise sighed. "She just doesn't feel like..." She paused and bit at her index finger nail. "Like he's... mature enough." Eloise gazed at Elmer for a while.

"I... can kinda see where she's coming from." Elmer sniffed.

"She'll probably be going to do it now." Eloise groaned. "But just forget about, okay?" She smiled docilely in the direction of Elmer, despite not actually looking at him.

* * *

><p>Strutting down the hallway, Shelly Bolles was ready to get rid of the baggage that had been holding her back for the past two years and ten months. Kane Tiller, her rather ridiculously rowdy and somewhat childish boyfriend. Whipping her hair side to side, she pushed her flat shoes into the ground with every stomp, continuing down the never-ending corridor.<p>

Once she found the end, she was satisfied that she'd made a mark on any individual watching, which indeed there had been none, and continued her journey onto the stairs.

Shelly found herself become a little giddy with excitement over the fact that she'd be rid of that silly Kane. He was no good for her anyway, always drunk and hitting on other girls, flirting with them like she wasn't there. Shelly and Kane rarely had sex, and when they did, Shelly ended up having to entertain herself with reading a book after Kane finished early because he was 'in a rush', or whatever particular excuse he had decided to use that evening.

She bounced down the stairs, thrilled with anticipation to not have to deal with him for much longer. Shelly smiled as she saw her friend at the foot of the stairwell, and she became more and more exultant with every step she took down the stairs.

"Hey Shelly!" The woman grinned, opening her arms for a hug. Shelly embraced her closest friend, Maggie Wales, for what felt like a couple of minutes, but in reality was a few short seconds. "You ready to do this?" Maggie gave Shelly some eye-contact to kick her adrenaline up another notch.

Maggie was a waitress with Chinese descent, who wasn't too sure what she wanted to do with her life. Then again, being eight years junior to Shelly, she had much time to think of what route she wanted to take. Most likely she'd be pushed into some form of medicine by her parents, despite complaining of the classes. She had no interest however in fashion, journalism, literature, science, technology, animal care, construction, catering, performing or horticulture, so there weren't many directions left for Maggie to take, so she'd befriended Shelly Bolles to help her with an occupation. This developed into a healthy friendship.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" Shelly flipped her long blonde hair from side to side and hollered with joy. She flattened out her pink jumper as she zipped up her gray hoodie, subsequently proceeding to scratch her forehead, to try and cool herself off slightly.

But she couldn't contain her excitement.

"Do you know what you're going to say to him?" Maggie placed a hand on Shelly's shoulder and shot her an ever-so slightly austere look.

"Get the fuck out of my life?" Shelly giggled and flipped her hair once more as Maggie and her collapsed into a miniature fit of chuckles.

"I'll leave you to it; I'll go meet Eloise and Elmer." Maggie playfully pushed Shelly towards the reception of Elk Skiing Resort 180 and gave her one last look before leaving to meet her two friends. "You go girl!" She left Shelly with one last motivational phrase to try and ease her into a more sensible tone, but it didn't work.

Shelly had never felt such a strange cocktail of emotions. She was abundant in jittery hope that was mixed with a diminutive dash of morose misgiving and sullen scruple. She honestly could not wait.

* * *

><p>Making his way to the reception, like asked, was Kane, a considerably stubborn man that was athletically able. Confident and crowd-pleasing, he was much-loved by his peers, as well as a significant amount of strangers in his home-town of Berks County.<p>

Hitherto he was never rude to Shelly; he just never made his true feelings clear to her. Those being feelings of love, feelings of passion, feelings of vehement desire. Kane was ready to take their thirty-four month relationship to a new level, that being marriage. He was about to propose to her, now all he had to do was wait for her arrival.

Kane didn't have to think twice about asking Shelly to marry him. Despite her being three years older than him, he understood that she was a rebellious lady who wasn't one to be messed with. Kane respected that. She could be down-to-earth, but that took time. Kane had time. He took the time to get to know her over months and months before they officially started their relationship.

After they became legitimate, Kane almost took her for granted. He acted as if she was absent from him, he would never pay her enough attention and he'd always leave her doubting their status.

But Kane was ready to change. Ready to adapt to how Shelly wanted him to be. He was going to make that clear today. He'd be sure that she knew how he really felt, and the ultimate proof of this was a proposal. Kane was cocky, and knew he'd be accepted by her. Not a shred of disbelief that Shelly would reject him lingered in Kane's mind.

* * *

><p>"I hope Kane and Shelly don't affect the skiing class." Elmer pondered the subject.<p>

"Well they'll have to suck it up." Eloise grew more and more serious. "They came here together, they'll leave here together." She spat as the words rolled off her tongue.

"Okay, no need to get worked up about it." Elmer side-hugged his gorgeous gal to make sure she knew he was there for her.

"I just don't want us to end up like that." She gazed upwards to Elmer.

"That will never happen, babe." Elmer tightened his already firm grip on her to reassure her. "I'll always love you." He gently kissed her head and she reluctantly smiled.

"If you say so." She replied, somewhat discontent, but the matter was not up for discussion as she flipped the topic. "Come on, let's go." She picked up her jacket and threw it around her shoulders as Elmer scurried out of his room after her.

He looked back at his perfectly neat room before nodding and flicking the light off, leaving the room to be swallowed by a shadow and encased in a black bubble.

* * *

><p>Boyfriend and girlfriend William Long and Flavia Castillo had finished getting ready thirty minutes prior to everyone before them. They were always punctual and were extremely organized at every detail in life, from getting to a meeting at the right moment, to having their hair styled down to each individual hair strand.<p>

William led an interesting and somewhat dishonest life. Riddled with tattoos as if he was a schoolgirl's notebook, he stood at six foot, a lofty companion for his girlfriend. William was always a soppy fellow and tried to mask this by having his tattoos and attempting to lead a more rugged life than he had originally prepared for. He occasionally spoke of an alter-ego he had, which often annoyed his counterpart, named Falcon.

Falcon had developed when William was exiting his teenager years, just shy of a decade ago, to help him become tougher and to increase his masculinity. Yet it backfired, as all Falcon provided to William's life was stress. Falcon was perfect. Well, what William wanted to become. Because of this, William grew shy and lacked self-esteem, becoming puny in comparison to Falcon.

Flavia was always an upbeat girl who never hated and saw only the good in other people. Born and bred in Spain, Flavia moved to Berks County Pennsylvania as a twenty year-old, and soon met William. Being pushy on the rare incidence was her only downfall, but even this didn't matter to him. She never expected much out of life and often channelled her sorrows into her one greatest passion; dance.

Flavia danced whenever the opportunity arose for her to do so. She had a drive for it as it was the only way she could express herself fully. Flavia's passion had started as a young girl in Spain after watching a dancing couple on the television, and soon enough she was hooked, begging her mother to take her to dance lessons.

William and Flavia came to Elk Skiing Resort 180 with Elmer, Eloise, Kane and the rest of them, on a getaway holiday. Soon enough they'd changed their minds and wanted it to become some sort of couple's retreat, deeming Zane-Nathan and Maggie illegible for the trip. But this was thought up on the plane journey to the skiing resort, so William and Flavia had to deal with it.

"You looking forward to skiing today?" Flavia jovially asked.

"I really am." William was going to be himself today. At least that's what he was telling everyone around him.

"You gonna be yourself?" Flavia smiled. It was funny for her to think of William _not _trying to be like that silly alter-ego Falcon.

"I told you, I'll try." William placed a heavy hand upon Flavia's shoulder.

"Okay." Flavia kissed him on the cheek before picking up her goggles from the side-table. She placed them around her neck, ready to ski.

"They all better hurry up." William looked at his watch with intent, as if he was trying to speed up time, but in vain.

The couple were waiting in the reception when they heard Shelly's footsteps coming from around the corner. Flavia smiled as she recognized the sassy quality that was flooding into the room now. She nodded and looked at William and couldn't resist a giggle.

* * *

><p>As Elmer and Eloise left for the reception, they too heard footsteps approaching. Only for them it was Maggie's feet.<p>

"Hey guys!" It was indeed Maggie, and she greeted the duo with her arms open, ready for a hug. Eloise grinned wide as she paced towards her and held her in a tight hug.

"You alright?" Elmer asked Maggie, almost a little confused as to why she had come up to greet them.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Maggie pulled out of Eloise's grip as she spoke.

"I was just wondering why you came up here, that's all." Elmer stated.

"Oh." Maggie sniffed. Eloise could sense the awkwardness between the pair and decided to bring up the topic of skiing again.

"You ready to ski?" Eloise asked to which Maggie smiled and nodded.

"Raring and ready to go!" She laughed. Elmer chewed his lip as the trio marched down the stairs, to the reception of the ski resort.

* * *

><p>Kane was now entering the reception and spotted Shelly. She seemed a little off to him.<p>

"Hey!" He ran up to her and scooped her up, throwing her around in his arms. Shelly didn't seem her happiest.

"Hi Kane." She murmured. Now she was actually about to break it off with him, she felt guilty.

"You okay?" Kane rested a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just gonna tell you." She smiled, nervous. She flipped her hair out of her face and licked her lips.

"Okay." Kane took her by the arm and sat her down. "I have something to tell you too." Kane smiled, not anxious in the slightest.

"I need to go first." Shelly sighed. She looked up at her gleeful boyfriend as she sat up straighter. "We've been... together for almost three years now."

"I know!" Kane interrupted, proud of their accomplishment.

"Ah, yeah." Shelly sniffed. "But, I need to say something important." Kane didn't understand what she was getting at. "I'm... breaking up with you, Kane."

Kane's face crumpled and fell completely flat. He came across as not only melancholy but also frustrated. Shelly didn't want him to be angry; she only wanted him to understand.

"What?" Kane's voice cracked.

"I don't want to be with you anymore." Shelly confirmed. Kane scratched his chin with a wavering and shivering hand.

"I do." Kane murmured.

"Kane, we can't do this anymore." She groaned back at him.

"I was going to ask you to marry me." Kane whispered to her.

"What?" Shelly replied, stunned by his revelation.

"I wanted to marry you, Shelly." Kane stood up and dropped the ring out of his pocket, not looking back.

Shelly picked up the small, diamond ring from the ground and smiled sweetly. She thought to herself.

Kane brushed a tear from his eye and continued walking until he saw Elmer, Eloise and Maggie come down the stairs.

* * *

><p>Matija and Zane-Nathan had just come back from their quick coffee break, and they were both buzzing with anticipation.<p>

"You seem a lot happier now." She told her with a friendly smile.

"Thanks. I'm just a lot calmer now." He giggled a little.

"Ready to ski?" Matija asked as Zane-Nathan grinned, giddy.

"Yeah!" Zane-Nathan was elated as he picked up his pace and walked to William and Flavia in the reception.

* * *

><p>Becca and Hayden were now approaching the reception too, and saw the small skiing class.<p>

"I thought there was supposed to be about twenty of them today." She moaned.

"Obviously not." Hayden sighed.

* * *

><p>Flavia and William had been chit-chatting to Zane-Nathan. Eloise, Maggie and Shelly were wrapped in their own gossip. Matija had greeted Becca and Hayden. Kane was deep in conversation with Elmer.<p>

"She just broke up with you?" Elmer tried to sound shocked, but he knew what would happen. Eloise had told him.

"Yeah. Just like that." Kane was obviously trying to contain his tears.

"That sucks, man." Elmer placed a hand on Kane's arm in empathy.

Hayden clapped to get the group to pay attention.

"Now! There obviously is a significant number drop in the amount students we thought would be going to be going up to the mountains, but that's okay!" He shouted to them.

"Everybody just grab your skiing shit and we'll go on up!" Matija laughed as she spoke.


	2. The Avalanche

As he exited the reception, a cold flush of air hugged Elmer. He puffed out, not yet apathetic but growing so, letting his somewhat languid and toasty breath fly out into the air, into a grey, misshaped form. It stayed in the air but not for a terse amount of time for it lingered, a small foggy shape. It floated in the air before eventually fading. He comically shivered, glancing to Eloise on his right who had caught up with him.

He reached a stiff arm and wrapped it around her, only for Kane to walk up next to him. Elmer grew awkward; he was in a relationship, Kane was not. Elmer just smiled politely and tried to push Kane out of the conversation, for his own good, yet it didn't work.

A soft breeze of wind pitter-pattered over the trees, making snow fall off of them. Elmer had gone into some sort of daydream. Kane noticed Elmer was a little off, but he refrained from saying anything as he didn't want to spoil the moment he and Eloise may be sharing.

Rubbing Eloise's shoulder as they held their embrace, Elmer sniffed the refreshingly clean, cold air.

"I'm gonna go talk to Shelly real quick, I'll be back in a sec." Eloise released herself from Elmer as she spoke and Elmer stopped in his tracks. He chuckled to himself as the cold wrapped around him again.

Kane saw the chance and he could speak to Elmer, even if only for a brief moment. He seized the opportunity and casually nudged him on the elbow. However, Elmer gave no reaction so Kane thought he didn't tap him hard enough. With a little more vigour, Kane pushed his elbow against Elmer until he turned around.

"What the fuck?" He started angrily before realising it was Kane. His frown lit up into a fake face fleetingly. "Hi Kane." He smiled as much as he could.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you." Kane approached Elmer a little closer, almost touching, so they could whisper easily. "You've been moving around really odd just now." Kane looked at Elmer. "Are you okay?" Kane blinked. Elmer just gazed forward with glassy eyes.

"What do you mean?" He asked, shifting his feet from one to the other, back and forth. He glanced up and saw more wind swirling past trees, pulling the snow down from them.

"You know what I mean." Kane tried to sound jolly but came off as threatening. "Just tell me you're okay." He paused. "Please." He tried to lock eye-contact with Elmer, but Elmer didn't look in his direction.

"I'm fine." Elmer said shortly.

Just then, an abrupt and constant tapping came at Elmer's back. He trounced around on the spot and he realised it was Eloise, back from her chat with Shelly. Kane rolled his eyes, rejected and strolled back to the rest of the group.

"Hey babe." Eloise stood on her tip-toes and Elmer bent down for the two to kiss, only to be interrupted by Becca's voice.

"Okay! Health and safety!" She got a clipboard out and started reading off some of the more obvious safety precautions. She looked up and rolled her eyes as she saw Elmer and Eloise's connection. "You two!" She pointed a rude finger towards them. "One of you get here. Now." She harshly called out.

Elmer stomped his way past his peers until he was standing next to Becca. He was now blanking out everything that she was saying, just turning around every now and again to see the mountain that was on Elk Skiing Resort 180. After eyeing it up for a total of roughly a few minutes, he noticed that a couple of the rocks near the top were falling and breaking away ever so slightly. That worried Elmer. A lot.

Before he knew it, Hayden told the group it was time to go up to the mountain, trying to inject enthusiasm to the exhausted group.

Elmer missed some dialogue between Becca and Shelly, where it was evident that Shelly had asked if she could travel up in the chairlift and Becca gave her permission. He looked on as Shelly gleefully jumped over to the red, metal chairlift that would soon elevate one-hundred feet above the ground, creating a vivid and awe-inspiring scene across the ski resort.

* * *

><p>Elmer was trotting up the mountain when Kane strolled up next to him.<p>

"I'm sorry about what happened with Shelly." Elmer told him, somewhat lacking any real empathy.

"Ah, you don't mean that." Kane located the apathy in his voice.

"Look, I'm sorry Kane. Just take it." Elmer laughed.

"Ah, you're never one to apologize, are you?" Kane licked his lips. "So I'll just take that apology." Elmer chuckled in response, rolled his eyes and smiled. He looked straight ahead.

The mountain would get steeper and steeper as the group approached its top.

* * *

><p>"Zane, what are you worried about?" Becca tried to comfort an anxious Zane-Nathan at the foot of the mountain.<p>

"Excuse me! My name is Zane-Nathan!" He interrupted, wiping a tear from his face.

"My apologies." Becca sighed. Matija walked over to the pair. "Now just explain to me what-" Becca tried to continue, but Matija cut her off.

"Excuse me, but you two can't be standing around. Becca, you go ahead, I'll talk to this one." Becca nodded reluctantly and raced up the mountain to talk to the individuals near the front of the group, where Hayden was. "Now, just walk with me up the mountain and I can reassure you, everything is fine." Zane-Nathan sighed and forced himself to go up the mountain, following Matija.

"I'm sorry for causing a commotion." Zane-Nathan begrudgingly said.

"Oh no, it's not your fault." Matija sighed as Zane-Nathan looked at her. "Everybody gets scared of an avalanche." On that final word, Elmer turned around and started listening to their conversation, slyly so they wouldn't notice him.

"But I read online that-" An anxiety-ridden Zane-Nathan tried to explain his freak out.

"Ah, don't believe that bullshit." Matija chuckled slightly to herself. "They always want to try and instil some fear in people, but avalanches rarely occur here." Elmer's eye widened a little.

"But doesn't that mean that you're due one?" Zane-Nathan shook as he spoke. Elmer was still listening, panicking now.

"Not necessarily." Matija coolly replied. "Just go with it, okay?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Remember our talk?" Zane-Nathan smiled and the pair picked up their pace to catch up with the group.

* * *

><p>"But he's been acting all cowardly ever since he heard talk of a fucking avalanche." Eloise grumpily stomped.<p>

"El, he's probably just too worried about his ego to admit he's nervous." Maggie comforted her. Everyone was slightly worried about what had gotten into Elmer.

"But that geek was saying about an avalanche or some shit." Eloise groaned.

"Exactly," Maggie piped up. "He's worried about that stupid avalanche that Mr. Geek-Freak was freaking out about." She explained to Eloise.

"No, you know what; I don't care what you say." Maggie shared a puzzled look with Flavia who had turned around to overhear the conversation. "He's messed up; I'm breaking up with him." Eloise stated. Maggie looked over to Elmer who was evidently acting weird and was fazed by something, listening eagerly to others' conversations.

"Eloise, you don't wanna do that to him." Maggie started.

"Yeah, Elmer's a great guy!" Flavia joined in as she walked over to the pair.

"Bitch, what is this to do with you?" Eloise tapped her on the shoulder.

"Sorry, just trying to help." Flavia took William's hand and left Eloise to seethe.

"He messed up, Maggie!" Eloise whispered. Maggie looked defeated and didn't really want to hear any of it, so she just marched further up the mountain. Eloise finished triumphant.

* * *

><p>"So you're saying if I put one foot wrong, nothing bad will happen." Zane-Nathan inquired. Elmer was still eavesdropping on the conversation.<p>

"Exactly. In fact putting one foot wrong can be a good thing!" Matija chuckled again. "It helps you learn and really get to grips with skiing." She nodded to a now stable Zane-Nathan.

"Thanks." Zane-Nathan smiled at her as she walked off to meet Becca and start the lesson.

"Chin up!" Matija shouted back without turning around. Elmer was feeling all fuzzy again. His scarf blew up in his face, but there was no wind to force it to. He squinted and turned to see the trees, still blowing away snow. Elmer saw also the chairlift Shelly had got in, that was going to the top of the ski resort. She rocked her legs back and forth as the chairlift steadily progressed up higher and higher.

"Now everyone, just watch your step!" Hayden shouted out to the group as they approached a rockier path further up. Elmer turned to look back at the foot of the mountain. They were definitely too high up to bail out now. Elmer felt queasy all of a sudden as he saw William trying to start and avalanche by clapping as loud and as fast as possible. Flavia was scolding her boisterous boyfriend and he subsequently refrained from clapping again, to Elmer's relief. Suddenly somebody behind Elmer sneezed, extremely vociferous. Elmer turned to see it was Zane-Nathan who had sneezed.

"Ah, bless you." Kane walked over to Zane-Nathan and patted his shoulder.

"Thanks." He replied, wiping his nose in case of any snot.

"Why do people say bless you?" William asked.

"I don't know," Flavia shrugged her shoulders. "I think it's to piss off some devil or some shit like that." Something about that sentence didn't exactly sit right with Elmer.

"I never knew that." William smiled at his girlfriend, hinting at her superior knowledge, but she just rolled her eyes charmingly at his cheesy remark.

Elmer still didn't feel settled. He began feeling more and more nauseous as the scaled up the mountain, but he repeated to himself that it was just altitude sickness and he was just being silly. Despite all that, a bundle of fear was still trapped inside him, waiting to escape.

* * *

><p>After marching up the mountain like toy soldiers, Becca, Hayden and Matija stopped the group. The trio stood mighty and exultant. Elmer nervously picked up his skis, as did Eloise, Maggie, William, Flavia, Kane and Zane-Nathan. Only they were the students of today's class.<p>

"Equality!" Becca shouted to get the group's full attention. "Yes, equality! Today, we may all be of similar ages, races, nationalities, sexual orientation and so on, but remember! We all need to get along regardless. Right?" The group cheered at the somewhat irrelevant miniature but motivating speech. Elmer was the only one who remained silent. _Equality._ Why did that word cause such a stir? _It's a good word_, Elmer patiently told himself. But alas, thoughts continued to ring and ring in his head like an angry school-bell endlessly ringing out.

* * *

><p><em>Maybe it means that we are equal no matter what. Maybe it signals to the fact that all of us will end up with the same fate. Dead and buried.<em>

_Maybe we are all equal, no matter what experiences we have, no matter what we've done, in something's, or someone's, eyes._

* * *

><p>"Now!" Hayden rubbed his hands as he angled to Becca and then Matija respectively. "Who's gonna show the group how to get down the mountain?" Becca smiled and stepped forward.<p>

She stood on her ruby-red skis and started on her way down the mountain, keeping a perfect balance and equal pace. She had no trouble with trees, fences or other various objects that she needed to avoid. She was now approaching the rocky area on the ski-path.

"Now here comes the tricky part!" Eloise giggled to Maggie.

"I hope she falls over." Maggie replied. Elmer span around again. **Everything** sounded peculiar to him. Like it all alluded to one thing. Without warning a shrill voice came from nearer the top of the mountain.

"There's an avalanche!" She screamed, banshee-like. It was Shelly, from her chairlift. Elmer's mouth dropped open as indeed, there was snow racing toward the whole group, rumbling and causing destruction.

* * *

><p>"You can do this. You can do this." Becca whispered repeatedly to herself. There was a sudden commotion behind her which put her off her skiing. She turned her head around to see what it was, but messed her footing up in the process before falling face forward into the snow.<p>

She skidded across the harsh blend of ice and rock and dropped her skis. Bloodied and bruised after bouncing along the painful rocks, she tumbled and flew down the mountain. Crunch after crunch and sickening crushes were heard from her as she neared the foot of the mountain. She eventually slid down the remainder of the mountain and proceeded to lay at the foot of it, lifeless. She was dead.

Elmer turned and starting running down the mountain in a frenzy, throwing his skis behind him. His friends abandoned their skis also and followed his down. Elmer looked to the foot of the mountain to see Becca collapsed in a bloody and broken heap, and he saw her skis protruding out of the snow, midway down.

Calling for them to slow down to assist some of the others who had been left higher up than the others was Hayden. He turned and grabbed Flavia's hand and led her past him, him remaining still. Placing one of his hands on her back, he followed her down before gently removing his hand and running more normally.

Hayden continued at a steady pace, but at a significantly slower speed compared to the remainder of his counterparts. He became distanced from them and ended up becoming a lone soldier nearer the top of the ski-resort. After noticing the length between him and everyone else, Hayden began to coolly pick up his speed. He ended up slipping down within a few steps into a quicker run and his back slammed against the ground.

Sliding down the mountain and panicking whilst it was happening, Hayden tried to turn himself around and stand up, only to fail. He did however end up continuing back-first down the ski-resort. He veered off to the side of the main skiing track and into the trees. Catching up with the majority of the group, Hayden was now almost invisible. Flavia however managed to pinpoint whereabouts he was and saw Hayden's spine slam into a tree, killing the ill-fated skiing instructor.

A small pool of blood collected around him as Flavia just stood, flabbergasted and eyeing up the sorry sight that was Hayden's body. Putting a terribly shaky hand to her mouth she let into the tears and sobbed, unknowing that the avalanche was taking advantage of her stop. It came running down, only for her to turn and see her fate, swallowing her up, only for her to come back out of the thin first layer.

"Fuck!" Flavia started. "It's fucking cold!" She moved around frantically, trying to get people's attention, but didn't even attract William's concentration. Soon enough she was covered by another, much larger and difficult layer. Elmer revolved around just to see the Spanish dancer's final moments. He then looked at William. He hadn't noticed yet, along with the remaining six that were unaware. Shelly on the other hand had noticed from the chairlift and Elmer's eyes connected with hers as grief lay upon her face. Elmer felt guilty all of a sudden, as if the avalanche wasn't going to leave her out.

Shelly was panicking in her chairlift that was still chugging along, painfully slow, and all she could do was watch as one by one her friends and associates perished in brutal and gobsmackingly horrific ways. Traumatised by the things she had seen, she tried to get out of her chairlift to help her friends. She obviously hadn't thought it through as if she were to fall she would indeed die herself. Her movements were causing the already rickety chairlift to pull against the wire holding it up. Shelly trembled, lifting up the safety bar carefully and hesitantly from the chairlift. She subsequently looked at the height she was at and dragged the safety bar back down to hold her in.

Unluckily for Shelly, the bar had locked somehow and wouldn't come back down to secure her in, staying ajar. Wiping a tear from her eye frustrated, Shelly placed both her hands on the safety bar and tried to get it to come down. It still wouldn't budge.

Shelly worriedly looked down at her fellow skiing pupils running down the mountain, the ones nearer the front approaching straight underneath the chairlift. Shelly called down to Eloise and Matija, but her vocal chords wouldn't allow her, paralysed with fear.

From the ground, however, Eloise and Matija had heard her panics and stopped in their tracks to look up, hoping she would get to safety. The wire holding the chairlift groaned and snapped suddenly, throwing Shelly out of the chairlift. Looking up in horror, Matija placed her hands on her head, watching the falling girl tumble.

Shelly smacked against the ground and lay still upon impact, spraying blood around her. Her corpse fell beside Matija, and Matija screamed in fear. She bent down to check if she was still alive, but she wasn't.

"Look out!" Kane and Elmer yelled to Matija. She turned around, confused, brushing a tear off of her face before realising that the chairlift was now falling towards her from a one-hundred-feet drop. Before she could move, Matija was crushed by the unforgiving metal seat and killed.

As one by one the chairlifts fell from the support wires, the wires flapped around in a crazy and jerky motion, long enough to touch the trees. Eloise continued running only to be suddenly and brutally sliced by a stray wire. Her bisected and bloody body flopped to the floor in a single move, only for Elmer, Kane, William, Maggie and Zane-Nathan to look on in sheer horror.

Elmer wasn't fazed by his girlfriend's death. He understood that if she died, he had to get to safety and survive. Time for grieving would be later.

As the five remaining people continued down the mountain, the goings-on caused rocks to fall and slide down the ski-resort, endangering the group further. Crumbling down to the group at a fast speed, some of the rocks broke apart, more and more as they were soiled with snow, losing their danger to the group. However, one enormous rock trundled on strong and remained whole as it approached them. William turned to see what was going on and was crushed by the bouncing boulder, leaving the four remaining skiers in a stunned mind-lapse as they slowed down their descent to the foot of the mountain.

All of a sudden, Zane-Nathan's foot gave way and slipped away from him, scraping along the cold ice. He then collapsed to the floor and plummeted further down. Miraculously avoiding each significant obstacle that was in his way including the rocks and Becca's abandoned ski, Zane-Nathan reached the foot of the mountain. Remaining prominently unharmed by his fall down, Zane-Nathan believed he was safe, as his friends watched on. However the momentum of his journey down, he continued on after he was on level ground. Before he knew it he was flung into the side of the log cabin of the reception and was left lying in an almost identical fashion to Becca.

As Elmer, Maggie and Kane looked at the sorry sight, they realised they had little time to save themselves, as the snow was coming for them. They journeyed down as Zane-Nathan twitched his leg and gave in to the pain, finally dying softly.

The trio were helping each other get down as far as possible and were successful so far, but Maggie looked around to see her colleagues corpses', she lost her balance. She fell straight onto the ski that Becca lost hold of and was impaled by the red plastic. Kane stopped suddenly, grabbing Elmer's arm and turned around to see her body flat against the floor with the ski through her.

"Oh shit." Kane bent down on his knee and tried to shake Maggie to life. Her eyes flickered open and she saw Kane.

"Kane." She moaned, her hands digging into the snow.

"Maggie, we're gonna get you outta there." Elmer sniffed, hurt by his friend's injury.

"Just go." Maggie sighed, remaining still. "The avalanche is coming anyway." Kane and Elmer looked up and she was right. "Go without me."

"No, we can't that's bullshit!" Kane was adamant to stay and help her, but Elmer gripped his arm and dragged him down the ski resort.

"Come on!" Elmer yelled as the duo ran and ran closer and closer to their final destination.

A sickening crack was heard, and without warning, a tall tree gravitated towards the ground, wiping Kane out completely, leaving blood and little more. The leaves gently shook on the conifer tree, and Elmer just stood, dumbfounded.

A more metallic and artificial crack was heard, and Elmer knew it. He turned around and the chairlift pole, holding up all of the flailing, uncontrollable support wires, was coming towards him. He let out a scream and then everything was black.

* * *

><p>"Ah, you're never one to apologize, are you?" Kane licked his lips. "So I'll just take that apology."<p>

"What the fuck?" Elmer gasped, startled.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kane lay a hand on Elmer, but he brushed it off, growing defensive. He flicked his head around and around, trying to figure out what happened.

"Shit!" Elmer screamed, worried as to what he had just seen.

"Zane, what are you worried about?" Becca tried to comfort an anxious Zane-Nathan at the foot of the mountain.

"Excuse me! My name is Zane-Nathan!" He interrupted, wiping a tear from his face.

"My apologies." Becca sighed. Matija walked over to the pair. "Now just explain to me what-" Becca tried to continue, but Matija cut her off.

Elmer had already seen the whole conversation. He already knew what was happening. As Matija and Becca exchanged a couple of words, Becca approached the group higher up on the mountain.

As she walked past Elmer, he grabbed her arm, still dazed.

"What the fuck, man?" Becca slapped his arm away from her, angrily.

"No! Don't!" Elmer yelled and Becca span around. Maggie and Eloise stopped their conversation, Hayden turned to see the mania, as did Flavia and William.

"Just chill out." Kane calmly put a hand on Elmer's shoulder.

"No! I can't!" Elmer pushed away his hand in frustration.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" William stomped over to the interesting chaos.

"There's gonna be a fucking avalanche, that's what!" Elmer ran his fingers through his hair in worry.

"Don't bullshit about shit like that!" Zane-Nathan pushed Elmer's body in rage, letting him fall to the snow-covered ground, letting Elmer see Shelly riding on the chairlift.

"Shit!" Elmer fumbled around on the floor and got on his feet. "Shelly! Someone get Shelly!" He pointed frantically at Kane's ex-girlfriend.


End file.
